TSM Outlast Reciprocity, Win EXP Apex Legends Invitational

Last Saturday, Jordan “Reps” Wolfe, Mac “Albralelie” Kenzie Beckwith, and Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen of Team SoloMid were the big winners at the X Games. There were no kickflips or nosegrinds, just a team of gamers kicking some butt and grinding out placements to take home gold in the first-ever EXP Apex Legends Invitational.

After a third-place finish in the FACEIT Pro Series, expectations were high for TSM in Minneapolis at the inaugural EXP Apex Legends Invitational. This was the first big all-professional tournament in the Apex scene and it coexisted with the X Games in Minnesota. With NRG led by fan-favorite, Dizzy, and a who’s who of top teams with top global talents, taking home the gold was never going to be an easy task.

TSM racked up top 5 after top 5 and topped off their strong showing with a 1st-place finish in game 8 of the finals. With Reciprocity hot on their heels, even landing on one of the TSM players in one game to try to take him out early, the eventual champions had to fight off teams trying to directly counter them. None of the counter-strats were enough to get in TSM’s way. Reciprocity and Sentinels both had strong showings, the latter’s just a week after their Fortnite player took home $3 million at the Fornite World Cup.

1st- TSM

2nd- Reciprocity

3rd- Sentinels

The tournament really demonstrated who the meta legends are at the moment. With every team comprised of Pathfinder, Wraith, and Wattson, mobility seemed to be the most important trait for the pros. Wattson was used to counter any incoming ordinance if a team did get pinned downed.

In an interview with ESPN, TSM said that they had been practicing with Caustic to try out new strategies at the next big competition, the Apex Legends Preseason Invitational, which will get underway on September 13 in Krakow, Poland. The three-day event will be another opportunity for us to see what the competitive meta is.